Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday. The past two weeks have been busy and full of fun for Jake. Brian and I took Jake for his very first visit with Santa. He didn't really know what to make of the big guy but he seemed to warm up to him. He smiled for a picture or two and was done. I guess the visit worked because Santa sure did bring Jake LOTS of presents!

Last week we got to visit Brian's office for a party. Jake had a ball and crawled up and down the hallway. He made a couple friends with some of the other kids. It was great to see everyone and have a meal together for the holidays.

That's brings us to Christmas. Brian and I decided we would be staying home for Christmas this year. While we missed our familes it was nice to start our own traditions. We attended the Christmas Eve service at our church and then it was home and straight to bed so Santa could come.

Christmas morning was wonderful. We opened presents and when Jake went down for a nap Brian and I had a quick breakfast then started opening all Jake's new toys. It took a while to get everything put together but by the time he was up the play room (yes, we recently converted Brian's office into a playroom...he's thrilled) was ready.

That afternoon Jake decided to get sick. Somewhere out there Jake picked up a stomach virus poor little guy. Despite only getting to drink water and juice he hasn't let it affect him playing with his new toys.

Brian's entire family came over on Saturday and Jake had a ball. It was a warm day so corn hole was set up outside. Brian and Anna decided to team up and they were definitely the team to beat. I think Jack and Zackiery finally knocked them off their throne after about 3 hours of play! John Payne and "Jakers" (as John Payne has started to call Jake) played outside and rooted the teams on. It was a great day!

I hope your holiday was a wonderful as our first Christmas together. Have a safe and Happy New Year! More pictures to come in 2009!

John Payne's 2nd Birthday

Well we have had a busy 2 weeks. Last weekend we celebrated John Payne's 2nd birthday in Hartwell. Brian's whole family was there and we got to spend lots of time with everyone. Thomas the Train was the theme of the party and John Payne looked absolutely adorable dressed as the engineer.

Unfortunately we had to miss Davis' 1st birthday party (soooo sorry Davis) but we made it back for Lily's 1st birthday. Where Jake met his friend Ellie. She is a little older than Jake but they warmed up to each other and played in the big ball pool. Yep...probably going to need one of those!

Not much else has been going on. Jake is into everything. He is a lightning fast crawler. Now he is pulling up on things. Which is fun to watch how excited he gets every time he pulls up on the coffe table or couch. Unfortunately its easier for Jake to go up than down. We have had quick a few bonks in the past few weeks as you can see in a few of the pictures.

On Wednesday we go to see Santa. I can't wait to see Jake's little expression. Hopefully he won't be a crier! We'll see. Have a great week everyone and enjoy the holiday season.

Jake's First Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I know we did. We started the holiday off with our last swimming lesson of the year. Brian came to see what our little guy has been up to at the pool. He took some video footage and lots of pictures.

After swimming we drove to Cincinnati to see my family. My parents just moved back to Cincinnati so we got to see their new house. Thanks to Jake they will be getting their carpets cleaned after a Starbucks mishap. Oops. I think that was the only damage done by our little mover and shaker.

He is just crawling all over the place. Pulling up on anything he can find. We picked out our Christmas tree on Monday night and I am not sure Jake was very impressed. He just kind of looked at it and crawled off to his toys. Oh well. I know he will be enjoying those presents under the tree. I can't wait for Christmas morning.

Hope you all have a great week!